The present invention is a design for a bridge having a suspended deck.
The problem of constructing a bridge presents a challenge on a number of intersecting intellectual planes. A bridge design should be easy-to-construct, durable, able to withstand the assaults of nature, including traumatic events such as earthquakes, and should be aesthetically pleasing. To fill these needs a number of different designs have been created. Two designs of particular interest are the double tower suspension bridge and the arch suspension bridge.
In the typical suspension bridge a pair of main cables are suspended between the tops of a pair of towers. A set of substantially vertical cables suspend the deck of the bridge from the main cables. In an arch suspension bridge, a set of vertical cables typically suspend a deck from an arch. Both of these designs represent popular favorites, as they have a minimum of support structure beneath the deck that would therefore interfere with navigation.
FIG. 1 shows a prior art bridge 10 that was invented by the inventor of the present invention. In bridge 10 a sinusoidal support structure 12 rises above and falls below a deck 14 of bridge 10, by turns forming a first arch 16 and a second arch 18. A first tower 20 and a second tower 22 support structure 12 (a further portion of structure 12, extending off of the right side of FIG. 1, is rooted into the earth). A pair of tower extensions 24 and 26 directly support deck 14. In addition, support structure 12 supports deck 14 at a set of crossing points 27 and, further, forms a loop 28 and a shelf 30 for support of deck 14. A set of cables 40, lend further support to deck 14. Unfortunately, the support of column extensions 24 and 26 and at crossing points 27 could prove to rigid and brittle during an earthquake. In the ideal, a bridge design should have built into it great flexibility, so that it can withstand earthquakes.
The present invention is a bridge, comprising a set of bases, a deck, an undulating support structure having above-the-deck arch sections and below-the-deck inverted arch sections and being supported by the set of bases at the below the deck sections. The bridge also includes at least two arrays of load-bearing connectors extending from the above-the-deck arch sections to the deck and supporting substantially the entire weight of the deck.
In a preferred separate embodiment, the present invention is a bridge comprising a deck, an arch and an array of load-bearing connectors extending downwardly and longitudinally inwardly from the arch to the deck and supporting the deck in tension.
In an alternative preferred separate embodiment, the present invention is a bridge comprising a deck, a wishbone arch section, including a single topmost middle portion branching transversely into two support legs on either longitudinal side of the topmost middle portion and a set of connectors extending from the wishbone arch to the deck and supporting the deck.
The foregoing and other objectives, features, and advantages of the invention will be more readily understood upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.